FOR DEMONSTRATION ONLY The wound assessment tool is still under development.

Start Assessment

Does the patient have a chronic or recurring ulcer?

No, wound has not been treated with standard care or treatment was initiated less than 2 weeks ago. Yes, wound has not shown signs of healing within 2 weeks.Yes, ulcer recurred despite standard wound care.

Caution

"It is important to treat the whole patient and not just the 'hole' in the patient."

Dressing selection is just a small part of wound care. Without a holistic, individualized patient assessment and plan that addresses the cause of the ulcer, patient concerns and local wound care, all clinicians’ efforts may not result in complete and timely healing. Thus, it is strongly recommended that dressings be selected after a holistic patient assessment. Assessment can be performed with WoundReference’s Assessment Tool and other tools.

As part of the assessment, clinicians should determine if the ulcer is:

Healable: ulcer has adequate blood supply; causes and existing cofactors, conditions, or medications that could potentially delay healing have been optimized or ideally corrected.

Maintenance: ulcer is healable but either healthcare system factors or patient- related issues (e.g., patient adherence) are preventing the wound from healing.

Non-healable: ulcer that does not have adequate blood supply to support healing or cause cannot be corrected.

Stalled wound (has not healed in 6 weeks): consult wound specialist

The dressing type will change as the needs of the person and their wound change